Ann Bates, the wife of Princeton head men's lacrosse coach, passed
away on Nov. 30, 2011, after three fights against cancer. The Princeton
men's and women's lacrosse teams recently participated in a day of
service in her memory as part of the "Ann's Love Builds" project.

On November 17, Dr. Ann Bates was honored and remembered
through a day of service organized by the Bates' parish, Media Presbyterian,
entitled Ann's Love Builds. In
total, eight different work sites spread across Philadelphia and New Jersey
brought more 225 workers together to celebrate the life and legacy of a
wonderful woman.

As members of the Princeton Lacrosse family, once we were
made aware of the event, we immediately felt a need to be involved. Together, the Men's and Women's
lacrosse teams came together to provide more than 55 sets of helping hands ready to
work to commemorate the life of Coach Bates's wife and Nick's Mother by making
a real, physical change in the lives of others.

The women's team members were charged with the refurbishing
of St. Paul's Chapel Baptist Church Family Life Center in South
Philadelphia. They were split up
into different crews and each group was assigned to a different task. The tasks included repairing a new
plumbing system to the replacing the old one destroyed by Hurricane Sandy,
removal of an enormous tree in the front of the church, cleaning the church
gutters, the removal of the clutter and trash from the church basemen and
cleaning the entire property of weeds, bushes, and trash.

The men's team members met in Camden, N.J., and were instructed
to gut a totally dilapidated home intended to someday house interns for the
Future Urban Promise Center. Throughout
the day, the walls were sledge-hammered, windows knocked out and boarded, floor
boards ripped up, and one painful bathroom removed. The pictures from the work sight can attest to the nature of
the hard work done. Several
stepped on nails and dust-filled faces later, the Tigers left with the job
completed.

The work was not easy, nor was it designed to be fun, but
the experience was so rewarding. In wearing the Ann's Love Builds t-shirts, our teams were
constantly reminded of why we were doing this and in whose honor we were doing
it for. Or, as the late Dr. Bates
put it best, because "we're all in this together, and every little bit
counts."